Firearms
'Firearms '''are weapons that use an explosive such as blasting powder to propel projectiles at great distances. History and Operation In the Iron Kingdoms The first firearms utilized a multi-part loading process that needed silk pouches containing the two components of blasting powder being dropped down the muzzle of the firearm, followed by a bullet tucked inside a bit of wadding and tamped down with a rod before being fired. By pulling the trigger, the shooter releases a pin that drives itself into the rear of the round, through two silk pouches and the bullet and wadding would be ejected from the muzzle of the weapon and the silk pouches would burn up, leaving the barrel empty and waiting for another load. After moving to the breech loading system the bullet and silk pouches containing the blasting powder could be placed into the chamber through the rear of the firearm. This led to the bullet and the powder being placed in one paper cartridge. While the thin paper leave as little fouling in the chamber as possible and can withstand normal handling on a battlefield, should they become wet or receive any significant trauma, the paper falls apart and needs to be loaded individually. Despite the higher rate of fire paper cartridges caused more fouling is caused, which can lead to more malfunctions if the weapon is not properly cleaned and the firing pin has more material that it needs to drive through to puncture the silk pouches within causing it to be dulled or bent and rendered useless faster. Thus, for a firearm that uses paper cartridges to remain reliable, the weapon needs to be regularly maintained following any extended use. Iron Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy RPG Core Rules The invention of the muzzle loading pepper box mechanisms were developed and later the ammo wheel resulted in higher rates of fire without needing to reload after each shot. The ammo wheel allowed the shooter to reload the wheel’s chambers through the rear of the weapon using paper cartridges. In addition to being easier to reload, the pin that holds the ammo wheel in place can be pulled, allowing the ammo wheel to be removed and replaced with another pre-loaded ammo wheel. The first pepper box actions were advanced by hand, but later developments possessed clockwork mechanics that advanced the chamber with the pull of a trigger before striking the cartridge with the firing pin. The development of the metal cartridge revolutionized warfare and solved many issues plaguing earlier firearms. By placing the two silk pouches inside of a metal cartridge capped with a bullet, the gunsmiths created a cartridge which would leave less fouling and that could guide the firing pin into the round through a small well without causing the firing pin a lot of damage or dulling and by capping the rear of the cartridge where the pin enters with a small drop of wax, the gunsmiths also created a water-resistant cartridge. The rounds with metal cartridges are easily dumped out of their breech loading actions with a flick of the wrist to clear the chamber for the next round, but the paper cartridge remains the favored cartridge of gunfighters, since the weapon is left with an empty chamber following the round being fired and can be easily acquired and loaded in the field. Thus metal cartridges were not widely adopted until the development of the ejector. Metal cartridges that slid with less resistance and ejectors that remove the spent cartridges resulted in the development of the belt fed automatic gun. The lack of friction from the metal cartridges allowed for gravity fed magazines that could drop rounds into a cycling action somewhat reliably. But it was the belt feed action that allowed for battlefield reliability and consistency. They recycle the energy being blown out of the weapon to power the cycling of the automatic action, which ejects the previous cartridge while reloading a new cartridge into the chamber and recharging and releasing the firing pin. This results in one man being able to fire so many shots with one pull of the trigger that he could outperform the capabilities of the barrel of the weapon, necessitating the development of water-cooled barrels. The Skorne Empire The Skorne do not use firearms like those used in the west. Instead the main explosive used by the Skorne is ''hokar ''invented by Engineer-chymist Korsarat of House Tusokaar and began to be used in warfare in the early 200s AR. However this greasy grey paste was limited to large cannons and heavy artillery ammunition as it is less effective in smaller quantities and therefore not used in small arms. The closest equivalent to the firearms of Western Immoren, the reiver was created by a retired Praetorian-turned-engineer named Honaek of House Lushon in 490 AR. Instead using the ''hokar paste these use the highly volatile gas named venhokar to fire lengthy iron needles in a rotating cone stored at the fore of the weapon.Iron Kingdoms Unleashed: Skorne Empire References Category:Technologies Category:Firearms